The Edit No.6 / Part 2 – Shirtings

The white button up may be as imperative as a pair of jeans to just about every human on earth. And it’s no surprise those two go together so well, actually. I wish I could interview Fran Leibowitz for this particular story on shirtings and all the wonderful variations that exist, just to obtain sound bites of her saying things like, “Shirts don’t go bad, they’re not peaches,” or, “American women think that clothes fit them if they can fit into them. But that’s not at all what fit means,” (both of which were taken from this brilliant interview!)

But alas she will not answer my calls. Nonetheless, let’s dive head first into part two our Edit No.6… Shirtings! And hope that I can provide you with a few musings of my own. Speaking of muses – I came across Alice on my favorite casting site – Instagram! She is French, if by some small chance you couldn’t tell, and a real gem who works in food design and isn’t afraid to admit she dances like her mom!

Not dissimilar to our story of The Traveling Pants, the white shirt is limitless in its abilities to transform for any occasion. And even one that appears to be quite traditional from the front, like this one from Tome, is deceptively untraditional with its caped open back that ties for desired fit. I felt this was THE shirt to demonstrate its versatility & how it could be worn three different ways for three different women or three different affairs or three different moods, really.

And if stripes or small patterns are your thing, when they’re in the form of a shirting, they pretty much go with anything. Blue jeans or feather trimmed pants are all made more wearable by this uniform top.

Of course, this isn’t to say that you’re always required to pair a shirting with an item of more frivolous details. In fact, I love the quiet ambitions of the type of shirts that have a bit of detail themselves. A delicately studded collar or embroidered smocking draw the attention upwards to your face, and you deserve it! And an inspiring bold earring is the shirt’s best friend. Like the belt to Emmanuelle Alt’s coats, the combination just works.

All of this to say what I love most about shirtings is that they are universal. And like Fran said, they never go bad. Vintage or mens, they are always cool, and like all things we love on the site, they’re timeless too.